Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To eat wood / to be wood-eating: Describes the biological action of an organism consuming wood as its primary food source. This is a specific term in zoology and entomology.
   • To bore into wood / to tunnel in wood: Often refers to the activity of insect larvae or other pests that digest or physically destroy wood by chewing through it.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Mối là loài côn trùng ăn gỗ. (Termites are wood-eating insects.)
  • Những lỗ nhỏ trên thân cây cho thấy có côn trùng ăn gỗ. (The small holes in the tree trunk show there are wood-boring insects.)

Advanced Usage

• Used as a technical, descriptive term in biology, forestry, and pest control rather than in everyday conversation.
• Can be part of a compound noun to describe an organism, e.g., "sâu ăn gỗ" (woodworm), "loài ăn gỗ" (wood-eating species).

Variants and Related Words

• Sâu ăn gỗ (n): woodworm; the larva of a beetle that bores into wood.

  • Tìm thấy sâu ăn gỗ trong đồ gỗ cũ. (Found woodworm in the old furniture.)

• Xylophage (n, adj): A scientific term (from Greek) for an organism that eats wood. This is the direct equivalent used in zoological classification.

  • Mối là động vật xylophage. (Termites are xylophagous animals.)

Synonyms

• Wood-boring: Making holes in wood by eating it.
• Xylophagous: (Scientific adjective) Feeding on or consuming wood.

Related Idioms

• This term is technical and does not commonly appear in idiomatic expressions. Its usage is literal and scientific.